The inauguration of Cornell’s 13th president, Elizabeth Garrett, is set for Friday, Sept. 18, and will serve as a substantial prelude to Homecoming Weekend.

The former event is rare, the latter annual, and both have components celebrating shared communities. We hope you can join us on campus to mark some history and have some fun.

Some Sept.18 highlights that are free and open to the public:

•The presidential installation ceremony will take place on the Arts Quad at 10 a.m., followed by a community-wide picnic on the Ag Quad at noon. In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in Barton Hall.

•At 3 p.m., President Garrett will moderate an academic panel on “Inequality and Democracy” with a diverse group of Cornell professors. Gretchen Ritter, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences and my fellow co-chair on President Garrett’s Inauguration Committee, will provide an introduction to this thought-provoking event in Bailey Hall.

•At 8 p.m., a fireworks and laser light show will be staged at Schoellkopf Field, a celebration that includes live music, special guests, and an exciting finale. Doors open at 7 p.m.

For a full schedule of Friday and Saturday Inauguration/Homecoming events, including the Sept. 19 Big Red Fan Festival in the Crescent Parking Lot, visit http://www.homecoming.cornell.edu/activities-2015.cfm

As one might expect, Cornell inaugurations have frequently touched on community, mission and progress:

•In November 1892, Jacob Gould Schurman used his inaugural address to retell the story of the Morrill Act and to excoriate the State of New York for not having given one cent of support to its fledgling land-grant university. He asked for an annual appropriation from the state of “not less than $150,000” and listed special needs, such as scholarships, for which he would seek private support.

•In October 1937, Edmund Ezra Day used his inaugural address to declare, “The time has passed when it can be assumed that social well-being will flow automatically from self-interested individual enterprise. If democratic institutions are to be preserved and individual liberty remain our proud possession, the citizen must recognize his obligation to make his life add to the common weal.”

•In September 1951, Deane W. Malott requested that his installation be treated as a “family affair,” in keeping with the simplicity of events at the university during and just after the war years. More than 10,000 people attended the ceremony, including many local residents. At the installation lunch, there were greetings from the student body, alumni and the Ithaca community, followed by remarks from New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey.

•Frank H.T Rhodes’s inauguration ceremony and festivities in November 1977 featured a panel moderated by Carl Sagan and an address by President Rhodes about reaffirming "the power of reason, the strength of community, the priority of research and the wider partnership of Cornell.”

Cornell University is proud of its continuing, ever-evolving commitment to strong communities and wider partnerships. Once again, we hope you can come to campus next weekend for a historic event, and a happy homecoming for visiting Cornellians, and nearby friends and neighbors.

Joel Malina is vice president for university relations at Cornell University. East Hill Notes are published the second and fourth Saturdays of each month.